Key events
145km to go: As the road starts to rise, some riders are already starting to drop off. I’m hearing that Christine Majerus (SD Worx) and Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) are among the riders struggling with the pace at this time.
Racing is underway on stage two
148km to go: The flag has been waved and the peloton are off! The first attack comes from the Polish national ITT champion Agnieszka Skalniak-Sojka (Canyon//Sram). Although other riders move to join her, the bunch quickly reacts. There are already splits forming in the bunch after a fast start.
We’re rolling on stage two of the Tour de France Femmes
152km to go: After a bit of a delay, the peloton have started rolling out. Today, 152 riders have started, with two abandons so far. They are Mireia Benito (AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step) who crashed out yesterday, and now Lara Viecelli (Israel Premier Tech), who is a non-starter due to “a stomach issue”. The update on Benito from her team is that she has suffered a concussion but there were no further complications.
Who’s wearing what jersey?
Kopecky is currently top in three classifications: the GC ranking, points and the mountains. Of course, she can only wear one jersey, so she will be in the maillot jaune today, while the second placed in points and mountain categories will wear the green sprinters jersey and polka-dot jersey, respectively. Cédrine Kerbaol of Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling will be in the white jersey as top placed youth rider.
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Yellow: Lotte Kopecky (SD-Worx) 3hr 03min 59sec
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Green: Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (AG Insurance–Soudal–Quick-Step) 36pts
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Polka-dot: Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon–SRAM) 2pts
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White: Cédrine Kerbaol (Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling)
The peloton was due to roll out at 1.05pm French time / 12.05pm UK time but are still making their to the start. Unfortunately, Eurosport’s live coverage doesn’t begin until 2pm UK, meaning we’ll miss around 65km of racing. It’s a bit rubbish but I will try my very best to bring you as many updates as I can via the live tracker and anything on social media until we have rolling TV coverage.
Lotte Kopecky wins first stage of Tour de France Femmes after gruelling climb
Jeremy Whittle’s Tour de France Femmes stage one report is here: Lotte Kopecky won the first stage of the 2023 Tour de France Femmes after a late solo breakaway to lead the overall standings by 45 seconds from her teammate Lorena Wiebes.
What can we expect on stage two?
On the third-category climb of the the Côte de Durtol, in the shadow of the Puy de Dôme, Lotte Kopecky attacked yesterday to take the first Tour de France Femmes 2023 stage win, in Clermont-Ferrand. After attacking with 400m to the summit of the only real climb of the day, the Team SD Worx shot off to ride to victory, with the peloton failing to send any one after her.
Teammate, Lorena Wiebes rolled in 45 seconds later to make it a one-two for SD Worx, while Charlotte Kool of Team DSM-Firmenich took third place. Today, the race shifts south for a hilly 148km from Clermont-Ferrand to Mauriac.
Unlike yesterday’s flat stage, today the riders face a mix of categorised climbs. There are six, in fact, with four cat-fours, one cat-three and one cat-two. The first categorised climb, the cat-four Côte du Mont-Dore arrives at 42.6km, while the final of the six categorised climbs, the Côtede Trébiac offers up an uphill finish for the riders.
Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon–SRAM) starts in polka-dots after placing second in the Queen of the Mountains classification behind Kopecky, who will be clad in the maillot jaune today. The day’s solitary intermediate sprint comes at Mauriac after 112km.
Yesterday’s racing was speedy but cagey and we didn’t see any successful attacks really until Kopecky’s. With such a hilly stage, surely the peloton will fragment throughout the day but will we see any early attacks?
Stage start: 12.05pm UK time
